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SAN FRANCISCO — Warren Buffett’s checkbook is wide open for giant acquisitions to bulk up
Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. But meanwhile, he’s finding plenty of stock investments to keep him
busy.

Berkshire’s biggest stock purchases in 2012 by total number of shares, culled from 13-F
regulatory filings:

•
Wells Fargo: Heading into 2012, Buffett wrote that “Wells Fargo is prospering. Its
earnings are strong, its assets solid and its capital at record levels.” The banking giant became
Buffett’s go-to stock; he bought shares in every quarter of last year. In total, Berkshire acquired
56.2 million shares, boosting its ownership in Wells to 8.7 percent of the company’s stock
outstanding from 7.6 percent. The bank is Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest holding by number of shares
owned.

•
General Motors: Buffett jumped on General Motors, buying 25 million shares last
year. GM emerged from bankruptcy in 2010 and has made huge strides, notably in China. In addition,
the company plans to refresh more than 70 percent of its car and truck lineup in the next 18
months, including a major overhaul of its profitable full-size pickup trucks.

•
DirectTV: This isn’t a stock that Buffett chose himself. It’s a purchase made by
his two new investing deputies, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler. Combs and Weschler bought 13.7 million
shares of the satellite TV provider last year for their respective portfolios that they manage for
Berkshire.

•
National Oilwell Varco: This is one of the country’s largest makers of equipment
to drill for oil and gas. Buffett bought 5.3 million shares last year, though the holding
represents a tiny fraction of Berkshire’s $88 billion stock portfolio. National Oilwell’s business
declined after the economic downturn and low oil prices sapped demand for new rig equipment. But
nowadays, the company is seeing order rates improve. At the end of 2012, order backlog was $11.9
billion, up from $10.2 billion in 2011. Shares of National Oilwell have slumped more than 15
percent since March 2012.

•
IBM: Buffett said last year he was “late to the IBM party” as he was with
Coca-Cola in 1988 and the railroads in 2006. He made up for it by buying IBM shares in each quarter
of 2012, ultimately shelling out for 4.2 million shares. Buffett has praised IBM’s management for
being skillful financial stewards, using debt wisely, making value-added acquisitions almost
exclusively for cash and aggressively repurchasing its stock. Berkshire owns 68.1 million IBM
shares, or 6 percent of the company.